For companies sending goods to Canada, the program is known as Pre-Arrival Screening (PARS), the program is intended to allow customs inspectors to have adequate time to evaluate incoming shipments for possible risk or security concerns. Under the condition of the program, a unique bar code is affixed to the invoice of every shipment headed for the border, and is transmitted electronically to either the Canadian Border Patrol or to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.  Customs agents will evaluate the documentation, and a recommendation is then made to either release the shipment for clearance, or to hold it for inspection.  When the shipment arrives at the border, the driver will present the original paperwork, which will be scanned to determine whether or not it has been cleared for shipment.
 
*As of July 2007, the CBSA requires that all PARS documentation must be submitted electronically.  No hard copy paperwork will be accepted.  This is in preparation for Phase III of the Advanced Commercial Information (ACI) initiative, which will require that all ground shipments destined for Canada have advance documentation sent electronically prior to its arrival at the border.  This e-Manifest provision will be phased in over the next several years, with full compliance expected by 2012.